Under normal circumstances, I would agree. But I don't see that happening with this group. For one thing, any admission to a lesser offense will still look like guilt as to the original charge when viewed down the road, unless you're talking about an extremely minor infraction - spitting on the sidewalk, so to speak - which would not be realistic in view of the current charges levied.
I agree, since these guys seem to be winning this no one is likely to turn.
But if they had paid her and had sex with her and the started lying like this with DNA evidence, I could certainly see them copping a plea to do a year rather than face a couple of decades, even though they are guilty of no more than paying a hooker.
Nifong has spent decades dealing with people who already have a criminal record so they always roll as the cost is not that great. The costs of rolling is much much greater for these kids who have clean records.